US Sup. Court won't block convicted killer's death

This photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows Rodrigo Hernandez. Hernandez, 38, is scheduled for lethal injection Thursday, for murder. His DNA linked him to the abduction, rape and strangling of 38-year-old Susan Verstegen.

HUNTSVILLE, Texas — The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to block the execution of Texas prisoner Rodrigo Hernandez for the abduction, rape and strangulation of a 38-year-old woman in San Antonio 18 years ago.

The high court order Thursday came about two hours before Hernandez was scheduled for lethal injection.

The 38-year-old Hernandez was condemned for killing Susan Verstegen. She was attacked behind a supermarket where she was working. Her body was found dumped in a garbage barrel behind a San Antonio church.

The 1994 slaying went unsolved for eight years until Hernandez, as a requirement for parole from a Michigan prison, submitted a DNA sample that went into a national database. The DNA linked him to her death.